A lot can happen whe you're gone
by xMadgirlx
Summary: One shot! Spoilers! It's better than it sounds: Harry wakes up from a 17 year slumber and everything is... different. Please rr!


I hope you all like this; it came to me after I watched A.I. 

****

**A lot can happen when you're gone**

 "STUPEFY!" yelled Lord Voldemort. The jet of red light narrowly missed Harry.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" shouted Harry. It unfortunately also missed.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" shrieked Voldemort. Harry's wand flew out of his hand and then his glasses slid off his nose and fell to the floor. Seizing the opportunity Voldemort screamed, "FREEZE DELEMA!" Both Harry's mind and vision went blank, it was as though an icy hand grabbed hold of him and then………

***

"Is he breathing?" asked a worried voice.

"He's alive!" said relieved voice.

"I'll go tell everyone else, c'mon sis," said the first voice.

Harry snapped open his eyes, his glasses were still off. Where was he? He sat up and looked forward a blurry vision of a girl was staring at him. Harry's stomach gave a jolt; it was Hermione: his girlfriend! Why wasn't she talking to him? What happened? Where's Voldemort? Those were all the questions buzzing through Harry's mind. A creamy scent filled Harry's nose, there were candles lit everywhere.

Hermione looked as though she'd been crying, it was quite hard to tell with his glasses off. So he felt for them and put them on. Harry's spirit darkened, it wasn't Hermione, and instead it was a girl with exactly the same hair color only her hair was straight not bushy. Harry looked straight into her hazel eyes; he knew those eyes somewhere. 

Something had to be very interesting about the floor because that was all she seemed to look at right now. She (shock, horror!) looked at Harry for a second or two and then walked straight into a young redheaded man who was carrying a note board. "Oh, sorry uncle Ron."

_Ron! This isn't Ron!_ Thought Harry, _she's mad!_

"Hello, Harry," said this so-called Ron. He was grinning. "How're doing?"

"Err, fine." Said Harry, he only just realized he was in a comfy bed and that he got his glasses from the top of the bedside cabinet. "Who are you? Really?"

"I'm glad to hear that." He said ignoring the last part of what Harry just said. "I know you're very confused so please don't use your temper at me when I can't give you the answers to you straight away. On a lighter note you're a very lucky man, sure you may have missed a couple of years but you'll be able to catch up on that. You're very lucky to be alive you know." He retorted. Then he grabbed a white chair moved it in front of the bed that Harry was in and sat on it.

"What do you mean I missed a couple of years?" questioned Harry, trying to keep calm. "What happened to me?"

"Well," he began looking down at the floor.

Harry desperately wanted to know what was so interesting about that carpet. Was it a carpet Veela or something? 

"First off, I'll answer your first question: I'm Ron your best friend, I know you were probably expecting something more Ron-like and younger but you'll have to put up with me. Second I'm _really_ Ron. Thirdly when I'm mean you missed a couple of years you… lets put it this way you were with us only you probably don't remember what happened after you and y~" he stopped himself when saw the disapproving look in Harry's eyes. "Fine, Vold ~ Vol, Voldemort battled, happy?" he asked.

"I asked four questions, not three." Said Harry smirking.

"Well, whatever~ please don't make me say You-Know-Who's name again, I'll crack!"

"I never said to use," he said seizing the opportunity to make Ron scared, "_Voldemort's_ name."

Ron, as predicted flinched at the sound of his name, obviously saying it once didn't help him like it helped Hermione. "Did you have to do that?"

"Yep," answered Harry nodding.

"Fine, all I know is that whatever he used on you made you be in a giant ice cube for seventeen years and we've only just been able to get you out. It wouldn't melt or crack."

"What? So you're saying that I've spent over half my life living in an ice cube?" Harry could feel his temper rising at a dramatic point.

"Y-yes."

"Cool, only kidding." Then Harry remembered that girl who was staring at him, "who was that girl in here before? Which one of your bothers' daughters is she…or sister?" he quickly added.

"She isn't really my niece she just calls me uncle Ron because of the age difference. Also do you by any chance remember what curse he used on you?"

"Who's he?" Harry asked playing dumb.

"Stop it, Harry, that's cruel!"

"All right," Harry thought back to when he had the duel with the Dark Lord…

Everything was a blur, his breaths now becoming more and more frequent and more deeply, he was panicking, he had to find those glasses soon before Voldemort used to the chance to use the unforgivable killing curse on him. He'd got them! But it was too late: Voldemort had already shrieked something he had to get off all fours and run. He was too slow finding his glasses he'd just stood and the silvery white mist had already touched his robes the mist was absorbing into him. He felt like his heart had turned into an icicle the curse was running with his blood. Every second seemed like a minute. His breath was ice cold; what was happening? Then his mind went blank.

That was all he could remember. 

"No, I'm sorry I can't remember what he used on me."

"OK," said Ron writing something down on his parchment. "You should get some sleep you have been frozen for seventeen years y'know."

"OK," said Harry slouching down. Sleep! How could he sleep about one hundred new questions had just entered Harry's mind. Where was Hermione and most importantly why hadn't she come to see him?

Dreamland 

"No, please don't go!" begged Hermione. She was crying. "Please Harry I don't want to lose you."

"You won't." Assured Harry, he brushed his hand on her face and kissed her on the forehead.

"How do you know?" She said in between hiccoughs, "Why do you have to go now?"

"I will tell you later." Said Harry.

"Let me come with you," she begged, "please?"

"No," he sternly, "we both know what the prophecy said and I love you too much for you to get hurt."

"Promise you'll come back?"

He whipped one of her tears off her cheek with his finger, "I promise."

****

**Back to reality**

Harry woke up. He still had his glasses on. That dream was real, it really did happen, just before his duel with Voldemort. It took a while but Harry in the end did keep his promise. Maybe she's just too shy to speak to you, said a little voice in Harry's head. Shy? Shy and Hermione don't go together. She's probably forgotten about you and she's with someone else," said another little voice in Harry's head. She's with somebody else, but who? It could be true. Please not Malfoy, please not Malfoy, anyone but Malfoy. I She probably wants to see me but she's got stuff for the Order, that's it, after all it has been seventeen years. I Harry thought. After that he took off his glasses and sleepiness possessed him and drifted off into dreamland once more

***

"Oh good, you're up," said a very pretty redheaded woman. Harry had been up for about an hour thinking about his life in Hogwarts. There was a tray floating right in front of her, she took hold of it and settled it on Harry's lap. There were lots of plates of food on the tray; Harry wondered how he was going to eat it all. 

"Ar-are you Ginny?" Harry asked looking bewildered.

"Gee," she said grinning, "What gave it away?" 

Harry knew he didn't need to answer that. "Thanks for the breakfast."

"That's OK," she said. 

She was halfway through the door when Harry remembered about Hermione, "Ginny."

"Yeah," she replied not looking back.

"Where's Hermione?"

She stopped dead and re-entered the room. She sat quietly on the chair that Ron left out. "Hermione," she repeated. 

"Yeah, where is she?" Harry had this awful feeling that Ginny wasn't telling him something. He decided to ask what he was thinking, "she isn't by any chance married someone else like… Malfoy?"

"No," she responded. She, like the others had been caught in a trance by the beauty of the carpet, "he's with Luna." 

"WHAT?" Harry bellowed.

"Only kidding," she said looking up, and then she looked more serious than she had ever been in her entire life. "W-what happened to her was that…two years ago me, Hermione and Ron had been asked to go to The Hog's Head because we might have been able to catch some Death Eaters. Well, we-we did find them; bu-but one of them caught Hermione by behind and-and well, to put it lightly like you, L-Luna and Neville Ron and me can n-now see Th-Thestrals."

Harry felt as though those words had just put a dagger through his heart. She had to be joking, but one look at the seriousness of Ginny's face told him that she wouldn't joke about something like this. It felt just as bad if not worse than how Harry felt when Sirius died. That dagger through his heart was carving part of it and taking a piece of his heart and that piece was leaving him forever. 

"I-I'm s-sorry," stammered Ginny crouching down to Harry's level so they were face to face, "I shouldn't have told you that, I should have been more tactful."

"No," said Harry looking down at his feet, which was impossible because bed sheets covered them. "I'm glad you told me as soon as I asked instead of doing what everyone did when I was in the fifth year."

Ginny looked relieved, "Oh, well good. See you later then." And she quietly closed the door behind as she left.     

Harry almost killed himself with such force as he threw his head onto his pillow. A few tears escaped Harry's bright green eyes. This is what Hermione must have felt when Harry was frozen. Upset, lonely, and heartbroken. What haunted Harry most was that Hermione thought when she died that he'd broken his promise when really he didn't.

***

Harry woke up feeling miserable, (who wouldn't when you've just had news when you girlfriend died?) 

"Ugh, not eaten have you?" said a disgusted voice. Harry looked up; it was the girl he saw that was staring at him the other day. How could he have mistaken her for Hermione? She was just as pretty but something about her just told Harry to stay away. She screwed her face making her face go red and looked away not daring making eye contact. "If you're going to starve yourself and wallow in self-pity do it later, or at least while you're not here, I can't bare anyone looking as though they're about to die with the lack of food, it's disgusting,"  

In Harry's opinion she might as well said: "I can't bear anyone feeling depressed." And about it being disgusting, some of her best friends maybe starving themselves but they haven't told her or she hasn't figured it out. 

"Thank you," he said sarcastically. "How would you feel if you someone very close to you had just died? Of course if you are lucky enough for anyone to like you." Harry had not meant to say it how it sounded. 

Her bright red face turned a scary white colour, _Oh no!_ Thought Harry, _what if her parents have just fallen to Voldemort? I hate my tongue._ Harry got out of bed, well; he tried anyway, as soon as he stood up his legs gave way and he fell onto the soft white bed. "I'm really, really sorry I didn't mean it." But Harry didn't sound that convincing.  

Her hazel eyes looked as though they were trying hard not to fill up with tears. "I only came up here to see whether or not you had the strength to stand up; everyone thought you probably wouldn't have but I decided to check anyway." Her eyes were trying to get rid of her tears without falling to her cheeks, which made Harry feel even guiltier. "But I'm sorry I did." And then she stormed out of the room. 

After an hour of feeling guilty about how he hurt the girl that he didn't even know the name of and feeling bad about Hermione's death and how he could of stopped it, she entered the room again looking a lot better.

"Sorry I was so judgmental," she muttered. "Have you tried walking again?" Harry shook his head. "Then I guess you'd better get practicing unless you want to spend the rest of your life in a bed." 

"Well, OK," agreed Harry, "what's your name?"

"Sally," she answered. Then a sound of a mobile phone started ringing.

"Your robes are ringing," said Harry.

"Oh, she said, then she moved into the corner of the room. (A/N: You're only going to hear what Sally has to say so it will be confusing.) "Hello? Oh hi. Really? Oh no!"

Harry read her facial expressions something really terrible must have happened.

"Can't you do anything about it? What happened? Did he find out? Is there anything you can do to change his mind? Yes, I do know that he's a son of a Death Eater. Did you manage to get him to spill anything about his plans? I know it's risky business. What? You didn't! Oh man, I know you can't get rid of feelings but they do suck."

Whatever happened looked like it was the end of the world looking at Sally. 

"There's something else isn't there? Yeah. They called you what! Yeah, come here where I am, we'll talk about it, OK? Good, see you later then." Sally went very white during that phone call. 

"What was that about?" Sally looked down at the carpet and bit her bottom lip.

"We were trying to get a spy to get a Death Eater's kid to tell them what He's planning."

Harry opened his mouth to ask who was 'He' but then he closed it again and realized it was Voldemort she was talking about.

"The thing is: the spy is in my year at School and so is the kid and you know how things happen…"

She was waffling, she was obviously dreading telling the rest of the Order.

"How did the spy get close to them?" asked Harry, that was obviously were she was heading but she was taking her time, "Did the boy or girl realize that the spy was a spy?"

"No! The spy got close to Malfoy by asking him out…" she answered.

"Malfoy! Draco Malfoy's son?" boomed Harry.

"Y-yes," confirmed Sally a little taken back by Harry's shouting. "Well, anyway she: the spy started to… grow more fond him in a… love way and he dumped her when he found out that her Mother was a Muggle-born."

In Harry's eyes there obviously wasn't a lot of good-looking boys at Hogwarts if the spy fell in love with a Malfoy.

"Anyway," Sally said trying to change the subject. But how could she? The Order was obviously desperate having to make witches and wizards that were still at School part of the Order and having toy with other peoples' emotions.

"Did he love her back?"

She shook her head, "No. Anyway, like I was saying, you need to remember how to walk if you want to go anywhere. C'mon, stand up," she commanded.

Harry's legs were like jelly; it couldn't possibly be that difficult if a toddler could do it. He put one foot in front of the other; he was doing it! "That didn't take long," said Harry grinning at his task, which he completed in less than five minutes.

"You wait until you have to remember to do spells," she retorted. This was the first time Harry had seen her while he was standing. She was a good inch taller than him, but she looked around eighteen. He completely forgot about the fact that he hadn't seen his wand in over seventeen years.

"How old are you?" he asked. 

"Sixteen, I won't be seventeen for _ages_," Sally answered. "I'm also one of the rare few who actually are born on the day that they were predicted to come."

***

"Harry!" exclaimed a round-faced young man with black hair; it was Neville. It had been about two hours since Harry relearned walking, he was now half way through his lunch, and he was starving. He had never eaten so much in his life. It turned out that he was at the Burrow but it was refurbished so Harry didn't recognize it as soon as he woke up from seventeen-year slumber. 

"Neville!" said Harry completely taken by surprise. He was soon explained to that Neville was part of the Order.

"Oh, and I also have your trunk if I remember where I put it," said Neville looking a bit bewildered. That piece of information didn't take Harry by surprise; Neville would have probably had a won prize for the most forgetful man/wizard on Earth, if he could remember where the ceremony was.

Harry grinned, "You're holding it."

"Oh, so I am," said Neville feeling a bit foolish. He handed Harry his trunk. 

Harry only just noticed that the curtains in the kitchen were closed; he asked Neville if he knew why.

"What's the point in opening them?" said Neville in a quiet and sad voice, "After Dumbledore died, Vol-Voldemort," he shuddered but he knew he had to say his name, "turned the world into darkness to show that he conquered the greatest wizard in the world, except for of course Harry." 

Harry opened the curtains above the kitchen sink to see outside, it was pitch black. A sudden flash of lightening lit up the garden. The grass was dead, so were all trees and plants. "Wow!" said Ginny, "that hasn't happened for a while." Ginny sounded truly amazed, it obviously meant that lightening was a rarity and it was special. 

But Dumbledore was gone? How? In Harry's fifth year he'd said to Voldemort that death was nothing. But now Dumbledore was gone so what chance did Harry have of defeating Voldemort?

***

Harry felt a bit distant from everyone else after he'd been given the news of Hermione and Dumbledore's deaths. Ginny gave Harry seven years worth of spell books she said that he'd probably be a bit rusty with magic and the truth was that he knew twice as much as he did before he was frozen and he was only in the third year books, it was amazing what you forget. _And what you take for granted_. Said a little voice in Harry's head. No! He was not going to think about it, it was a fact that nobody could deny that Harry had lost a lot of people he cared about, Sirius, Hermione and Dumbledore only being a few of them.

"Gwinny! Don't think like that." Ordered Sally's voice, she and someone else were out in the hallway right in front of the bedroom that Harry was practicing his magic in. Harry opened the door slightly and looked through the crack; he could see Sally looking quite disappointed at a quite pretty girl with long black hair and she was tall and thin. Harry was certain that she looked similar to him but it had to be a coincidence, right? 

"But I am," she retorted, clenching her fists.

"You're _not_," Sally assured her, "you've just got M.M.P."

"What?" The other girl asked, totally bewildered.

Sally rolled her eyes, "M.M.P, Muggle modelling potential, didn't you know that? You're Mum's a Muggle-born for goodness sake!"

"I know, I know," she repeated. "But have I really got it? But Muggles are so fussy with models, you've got to be drop dead gorgeous to be one and you've got to be really thin but not as though you're ill."

"And you're exactly what you just described," Sally said. "C'mon, I've got a Muggle magazine in my bag, I'm sure they're looking for a model somewhere, just get a family member to sign it get a Muggle photo and you're on your way to the front cover of _Shout!_"

"But I'm too thin, you know what they call me: 'Skinny Gwinny' and Malfoy said he hadn't got a problem with Muggles but it was that I'm too thin."

"Ha!" said Sally triumphantly, "don't pay a attention to him, he only said that because you're half his mother's weight and she's a cow."

If it were that Pansy Sally was talking about Harry would've defiantly agreed.

Gwinny opened her mouth to argue but then said: "Well, I can't say it isn't true. But about that modelling thing, were you serious?" Sally nodded. "I can't do it, the only family member I have left is my Dad and I don't think he'd sign it with the condition he's in."

"Don't worry," said Sally putting her arm round Gwinny for a second or two, (she almost had to tiptoe to reach.) "Gwen, you'll be a model before you know and you're Dad will the one signing the papers." 

"Why did you just call me Gwen?" Gwinny asked.

"Hey, you better get you used to it, modelling mangers these days don't do nicknames y'know."

***

A few weeks later Harry had just mastered every complicated spell and simple spells that he might need for a duel, (except of course the Dark arts spells).

He'd also got to know everyone a lot better who were in the Order they were: All the Weasleys, Luna Lovegood, Neville and everyone who was in the Order when Harry was in fifth and sixth year. There were also few more people that were in they but they like Hermione had died trying to help the Order. It turned out that Gwinny wasn't part of the Order but had volunteered to help for a little while. (Despite a lot of other people's protests.)

But this was the day that was going to determine what was going to happen in the future. Why? Harry was going to find Voldemort and lure him to the Department of Mysteries the only difficult question was how he was going to do it.

***

After a few hours of researching Harry finally found a spell, which would take him straight to Voldemort.

Harry had just announced what he was going to do to everyone else. Both Mrs Weasley and Ginny burst into tears and said that they may never see him again. Harry had just said good-bye to everyone (even Snape) except for Gwinny and Sally, Harry guessed that they retreated at the sight of Snape. 

"Hey, wait!" shouted Sally; she had just re-appeared from the stairs. She took out a glasses case and showed him a pair of contacts inside. "Put these on," she ordered.  

Harry hesitantly took off his glasses and moved his eyelid down with his skinny index finger and put on contact on his left eye. He closed his right eye and something that had never happened before without him wearing his glasses: he could see! After the success of one eye working properly he tried the other one and now he could see in both eyes.

"A friend of mine has been doing the same thing," Sally explained, "She's been wearing contacts as well because she's as blind as a bat." Gwinny looked at Sally menacingly.        

After everyone had said their good-byes and a few more tears had been shed Harry shouted, "Findinio Tom Riddle!"

It worked! Harry was in a dirty old pub, which reminded Harry of the Hog's Head, everyone was in black hooded cloaks Harry realized that this pub was for Death Eaters. Nobody had noticed that Harry had just appeared form thin air they just kept sipping their drinks and murmuring to each other quietly. 

"Hey, Voldemort!" Harry shouted.  The entire room went silent and they all stared at Harry.

A woman stood up still making sure that her mask was on properly, "Oh, great," she said sarcastically, "we got rid of Potter but know we have to fight his son."

"No," said another Death Eater in a small voice, "he has a daughter."

A daughter? This can't be! Then Harry thought back to when he first saw Gwinny.

_"I can't do it, the only family member left is my Dad and I don't think he'd sign it with the condition he's in."_

That was it! It all made sense, Harry thought that she and him looked similar from the start and there was the proof, why hadn't he'd seen it before? _"Because you're an idiot."_ came Sally's voice. It was true Sally had said something like that to a lot of people but never him. In fact she and Gwinny practically ignored him, Sally just gave him the silent treatment while Gwinny looked very uneasy and shy around him and the reason was that she'd only just met her Dad who didn't even know that.

Harry swallowed his fear and shouted, "Oi, Voldemort, same place, right now!"

And with that Harry disappeared to the Department of Mysteries where they had their last duel and Voldemort followed. 

A huge knot in Harry's chest expanded: this was it; nothing was going to postpone this duel. They glared at each other hesitantly bowed and got the duel started, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" shouted Voldemort, glaring at Harry with his red snake-like eyes, it missed.

The not in Harry's chest loosened a little, he knew what he was doing, "STUPFEY!" he retorted, it missed by at the most a centimetre. 

Voldemort cackled, "Is that the best you can do?"

Harry replied cockily even though he felt quite the opposite, "You need to keep track of your insults, you used the same one in our last encounter."

After many death threats, taunts and curses (not just used by wands) Harry and Voldemort were still duelling and neither were showing any kind of mercy or tiredness to the other. The duel had been going on for hours.

"CRUCIO!" bellowed Lord Voldemort, Harry shrieked in pain. 

Harry had to use the killing curse he'd never used it before but he had to try for everyone that had died because of Voldemort, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" It hit! 

The knot in Harry's chest was gone, a huge great wave of relief swept over him. Harry just couldn't believe it: Voldemort was gone; everyone was finally safe and nothing could change that. There was no spell or potion to reawaken the dead Harry knew that.

Harry just checked down to Voldemort's level just to check that he wasn't acting and would use Avada Kedavra on him himself. Voldemort's snake-like eyes were closed and his pale face was paler than usual. But then Harry felt a huge rush of guilt: he'd killed somebody, but it was Voldemort so why did he feel guilty?

***

Harry contacted everybody in the Order using a new spell that he learnt. He got back and there was a huge party; there were streamers and everything.

But Harry didn't feel like celebrating so he quietly went upstairs and when he thought it was safe he collapsed onto his bed that he had been using. He looked at the windowsill, the curtains were shut tightly and in front of the curtains was a green plant that didn't need sunlight to live. There were these sorts of plants all over the house for oxygen so that people wouldn't suffocate in the house.

After about half an hour of replaying the duel with Voldemort, Harry went out in the hallway and went downstairs and was about to enter the kitchen until Lupin grabbed his shoulder and said: "I don't think you should go in there."

"Why not?" Harry asked, who turned around to come face to face with Lupin. 

"Sally's in there," he explained, "she's in a bit of a bad mood at the moment. Well, she does come from a long line of nuts, first there's her Grandmother: she was called a lot of the time a mad Muggle-born. Then there's her Grandfather, I used to call him: "Crazy Jamesie."

Harry felt a sense of déjà vu.

"Her Mother wasn't so bad," carried on Lupin, "but then there's her Father: oh, boy did he have a bad temper! Infamous for smashing up the little gadgets in Dumbledore's office."     

Harry knew that this wasn't a coincidence, but then who was Gwinny's Father? Harry's question was soon answered.

"Thank you Daddy," Gwinny said in a sweet girly way giving her Father a hug. She and him were in the living room.

She was hugging... Neville?


End file.
